Homes

Get your kitchen in order with a mix of artful cabinetry

Different upper and lower cabinets look tres avant-garde.

Photograph by: Paul Chmielowiec
, Paulc.ca

Hi Jeffrey,

My husband and I are about to renovate our kitchen. We live in a 2,200-squarefoot townhouse built in the early 1990s, and although our kitchen is modest in size it's not tiny. My wish list includes an island, pot drawers and as much storage as I can possibly accommodate.

I've noticed in magazines recently a lot of kitchens have different colour upper cabinets than lower cabinets and I'm wondering if you think this is a good look and if it will stand the test of time or is just a passing trend?

Thank you for your help. Rachel Hi Rachel,

You ask a very good question and one that I personally encountered when recently renovating my loft kitchen.

I love the look of differentcoloured upper and lower kitchen cabinets because it breaks up the monotonous feel of one single paint or wood finish in a space. I believe this has moved beyond a trend and will stay with us for some time because it adds so much personality to a kitchen.

I took the mix-and-match concept one step further in my reno and chose the upper cabinets from one manufacturer of cabinetry and the lowers from another. Though both are from Home Depot, I first chose the gray horizontal striate panel from Martha Stewart Living's Weston line, but didn't want an entire kitchen in this finish. Because I was switching my floors to a dark cork tile that looks like slate, I wanted to anchor the space with a darker lower cabinet. When I was reviewing my choices, I discovered a vertical striate in dark brown from the Thomasville line that complemented my gray Martha Stewart ones perfectly. I don't believe Home Depot had ever orchestrated a kitchen using two completely different manufacturers of cabinetry before but it made no difference to them - it's simply a matter of ordering the chosen SKUs. Try to customize the selections when putting your kitchen together and don't think just because a showroom has a kitchen displayed one way that it can't be "cut and pasted" to your liking.

Alternatively, you may wish to change only the colour or finish of your island. For example, your upper and lower cabinets could be in a beautiful painted cream colour and your kitchen island could be treated as a completely different piece of furniture by using a rich medium-toned walnut wood. You could also highlight your island by choosing a counter different from the rest of your kitchen. However, I would take into consideration the size of your kitchen before playing the mix-and-match game too much.

To unify my space, I chose the same Silestone quartz for my counters and backsplash and wrapped the island, allowing for an overhang to accommodate a seating area. Using one treatment for both the countertops and backsplash keeps the look clean, modern and uncluttered. And don't judge my wooden saddle stools, Rachel! At the time of this photo, I had not yet found my ideal kitchen stool and I wasn't willing to compromise for the sake of a photo. I've since purchased three very comfortable acrylic stools that fit perfectly with the contemporary lines of my kitchen. The lesson here is don't settle - the correct item, be it a cabinet pull, light fixture or counter stool - always comes along.

Like you, I wanted my renovation to include a kitchen island and to maximize my storage. Even though I could not run electricity or plumbing to my new island (I have concrete under the newly laid cork floors), it has provided a wonderful workstation and much-needed pot storage.

The ceiling height in my loft is 14 feet, so when it came time to choose a light fixture for over the island I wanted something that would fill the space and still be visually interesting. Because I had the room to go up with my cabinets, I added a row of small cabinets above my standard uppers to maximize storage. For those naysayers who ask how I reach these cupboards without climbing a ladder, it's quite simple - I don't. Nor do I care to on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. It's a great place to store things I need infrequently, like Granny's china.

The Cavavin Urbania wine storage unit was on my wish list, so I prioritized the space for it; and just because I don't have a kitchen window doesn't mean I can't have a view. I hung a Mark Grantham landscape painting above the sink, so when I stand there, I feel as if I'm looking down a country road.

In renovating and decor, some design choices will have a very quick expiry date and others will stand the test of time. It's important to choose wisely so that your costly and hard-to-replace executions come from the latter category. When I look at my kitchen, there's no choice I would change, nor do I think it will look dated in five years. And that's what I want for your upcoming reno.

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